Archive for February, 2009
What Are The Country’s Best Affordable Suburbs?
Nationwide, home affordability has received a serious boost from the combination of falling home prices and falling mortgage rates.
Today, because of the sagging economy, in most parts of the country, the cost of owning a home versus renting one is now very close to its historical average.
That said, though, near every major city, there [...]
County-By-County: The 2009 “High-Cost” Conforming Loan Limits
As part of the stimulus package passed last week, Congress authorized a temporary increase to conforming loan limits in certain high-cost parts of the country.
“High cost” is defined by a regions’ median sales price.
With the temporary increase, a greater share of Americans can now qualify for Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed loans, usually the least expensive source for [...]
2009 Conforming Loan Limits Return To $729,750 In High-Cost Areas
Everything old is new again.
Conforming mortgages are limited by loan size, based on “typical” housing costs around the country. The current conforming limit on a single-unit property is $417,000.
In 2008, as part of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, Congress authorized conforming loan limits increases in “high-cost” areas around the country. In Los Angeles County, for [...]
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : February 17, 2009
In anticipation of a strong, government-led stimulus plan, mortgage markets improved with fervor early last week only to fizzle with equal speed as efforts fell short of expectations.
Neither the Fed, nor the Treasury nor Congress gave markets what they wanted.
Between Monday and Friday, mortgage markets were essentially unchanged, ending a 4-week slide. From day-to-day, however, rates [...]
The Stimulus Package Helps More Than Just First-Time Home Buyers
With Congress reaching agreement on a $789 billion stimulus package for Americans and the President expected to sign it into law, the clock may be ticking for this year’s home buyers and homeowners.
The package contains two benefits related to housing.
The first provision is fairly well-known. It gives first-time home buyers an $8,000 tax credit provided they [...]
Forget The Dow Jones: How The Treasury’s Economy Revival Outline Helped Mortgage Rates
His speech was much anticipated, but it was what Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner didn’t say Tuesday that caused mortgage markets to improve.
Mostly it was because of “safe-haven” buying.
Safe-haven buying is when investors move cash to the safest investments possible for fear of losing their money elsewhere.
This existence of the pattern is evident in [...]
Fannie Mae Removes Its 4-Financed Property Limit
Friday, Fannie Mae rolled-back one of its least popular mortgage guidelines updates of the last 12 months.
Effective March 1, 2009, real estate investors can once again own and finance up to 10 individual properties. The restriction reversal does come with new minimum requirements, however.
Homeowners buying a 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th home [...]
What’s Ahead For Mortgage Rates This Week : February 9, 2009
Despite a weakening employment outlook for Americans, the economy flashed signs of a rebirth last week. It wasn’t enough to reverse the recent mortgage rate trend, however.
For the fourth week in a row, mortgage rates increased, if only slightly.
The biggest story of last week was the revelation that 2.5 million jobs have been lost since Labor Day. [...]
How Today’s Mortgage Rates Impact Home Affordability
Comparing July’s conforming mortgage rates to today’s average rates, there’s a 1.5 percent difference in favor of homeowners.
Rate drops like that make big differences in a household budget. Look at these before-and-after payments, based on rates from the chart:
$150,000 mortgage ($144 savings/month)
July 2008: $958 monthly
February 2009: $814 monthly
$250,000 mortgage ($240 savings/month)
July 2008: $1,597 monthly
February [...]
